Displaying a series of reports within a single user interface

ABSTRACT

A user interface may be provided for displaying a series of reports. The user interface may include a primary report area, a secondary report area and a navigation slider. The primary report area may be utilized to display a selected report image associated with a report in a report series. The secondary report area may be utilized to display one or more additional report images associated with other reports in the report series. The navigation slider may be utilized to navigate among the report images displayed in the secondary report area. The report images displayed in the primary and secondary report areas may be manipulated by one or more user commands received in the user interface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to a U.S. utility patent applicationentitled “Integrating Report Actions for a Series of Reports within aSingle User Interface” having Ser. No. 12/985,208, which was filed onJan. 5, 2011. The aforementioned application is entirely incorporatedherein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Business enterprises may utilize enterprise resource planning (“ERP”)and customer relationship management (“CRM”) software applications toorganize, automate, and synchronize business processes, including datarelated to sales activities, marketing, human resources, customerservice and technical support. The aforementioned business processesoften result in the generation of various reports which may be utilizedby administrators or other business personnel to facilitate themanagement of business data. For example, various reports may begenerated to show historical changes in a particular business metric(such as sales data) over a user-specified time period. Data from thesereports may then be visually presented to a user as a snapshot (e.g., agraph). However, current applications are unable to provide multiplesnapshots of report data in a single view. Furthermore, users mustnavigate away from an application displaying a snapshot in order toaccess one or more different applications to initiate actions which arerelevant to the report data upon which the snapshot is based. It is withrespect to these considerations and others that the various embodimentsof the present invention have been made.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended asan aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Embodiments are provided for displaying a series of reports in a singleuser interface. The user interface may include a primary report area, asecondary report area and a navigation slider. The primary report areamay be utilized to display a selected report image associated with areport in a report series. The secondary report area may be utilized todisplay one or more additional report images associated with otherreports in the report series. The navigation slider may be utilized tonavigate among the report images displayed in the secondary report area.The report images displayed in the primary and secondary report areasmay be manipulated by one or more user commands received in the userinterface.

These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a readingof the following detailed description and a review of the associateddrawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are illustrative onlyand are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture fordisplaying a series of reports within a single user interface, inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment which maybe utilized for displaying a series of reports within a single userinterface, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a computer screen display of a series of reports within asingle user interface, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a computer screen display of a series of overlaid reports in asingle user interface, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a computer screen display of trend data generated from aseries of reports within a single user interface, in accordance with anembodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine for displaying a seriesof reports within a single user interface, in accordance with anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments are provided for displaying a series of reports in a singleuser interface. The user interface may include a primary report area, asecondary report area and a navigation slider. The primary report areamay be utilized to display a selected report image associated with areport in a report series. The secondary report area may be utilized todisplay one or more additional report images associated with otherreports in the report series. The navigation slider may be utilized tonavigate among the report images displayed in the secondary report area.The report images displayed in the primary and secondary report areasmay be manipulated by one or more user commands received in the userinterface.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network architecture fordisplaying a series of reports within a single user interface, inaccordance with various embodiments. The network architecture includes aclient computer 2 in communication with a report server 70 which is incommunication with a back office server 80 over a network 4. The network4 may include a local network or a wide area network (e.g., theInternet). The client computer 2 may include a client application 30 oralternatively, an ERP/CM application 40 which includes the clientapplication 30.

As will be described in greater detail with below respect to FIGS. 3-6,the client application 30 may comprise a software application operativeto generate a user interface for displaying one or more reports asreport images. The user interface may also include a secondary reportarea for displaying images of other reports which may be related to aprimary report displayed in a primary report area and a slider controlfor navigating among the report images in the secondary report area.

In accordance with an embodiment, the ERP/CM application 40 may comprisean enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) and customer relationshipmanagement (“CRM”) software application which may be utilized toorganize, automate, and synchronize business processes, including, butnot limited to, data related to sales activities, marketing, humanresources, customer service and technical support. The ERP/CMapplication 40 may optionally include the client application 30,discussed above. It should be understood, that in accordance withvarious embodiments, the client application 30 may act as a stand-aloneapplication or may be utilized with the ERP/CM application 40. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the client application 30 and the ERP/CMapplication 40 may comprise the DYNAMICS line of ERP and CM softwareapplications developed by MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Wash. Itshould be appreciated, however, that ERP and/or CRM applications fromother manufacturers may also be utilized in accordance with the variousembodiments described herein.

The report server 70 may be utilized to store reports 72 which aregenerated from report data. The reports 72 may comprise various reportsrelated to business processes such as sales reports, marketing reports,human resources reports, customer service reports and technical supportreports. The reports 72 may also include other reports not enumerated inthe aforementioned list which are related to enterprise resourceplanning and customer relationship management in an organization. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the report server 70 may comprise adatabase server such as the SQL SERVER relational model database servermarketed by MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Wash. It should beappreciated, however, that database servers from other manufacturers mayalso be utilized in accordance with the various embodiments describedherein.

The back office server 82 may be utilized to store report data 82. Thereport data 82 may be utilized by the client application 30 and theERP/CM application 40 to generate the reports 72 which are stored on thereport server 70. As should be understood by those skilled in the art, a“back office” may include a part of a corporation or other businessenterprise where tasks dedicated to running the company itself takeplace.

Exemplary Operating Environment

Referring now to FIG. 2, the following discussion is intended to providea brief, general description of a suitable computing environment inwhich various illustrative embodiments may be implemented. While variousembodiments will be described in the general context of program modulesthat execute in conjunction with program modules that run on anoperating system on a computer, those skilled in the art will recognizethat the various embodiments may also be implemented in combination withother types of computer systems and program modules.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the various embodiments may be practicedwith a number of computer system configurations, including hand-helddevices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.The various embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

FIG. 2 shows the client computer 2 which may include a general purposedesktop, laptop, tablet, or other type of computer capable of executingone or more application programs. The client computer 2 includes atleast one central processing unit 8 (“CPU”), a system memory 12,including a random access memory 18 (“RAM”) and a read-only memory(“ROM”) 20, and a system bus 10 that couples the memory to the CPU 8. Abasic input/output system containing the basic routines that help totransfer information between elements within the computer, such asduring startup, is stored in the ROM 20.

The client computer 2 further includes a mass storage device 14 forstoring an operating system 32 and the client application 30 (oroptionally, the ERP/CM application 40 which incorporates the clientapplication 30). In accordance with various embodiments, the operatingsystem 32 may be suitable for controlling the operation of a networkedcomputer, such as the WINDOWS operating systems from MICROSOFTCORPORATION of Redmond, Wash. The mass storage device 14 is connected tothe CPU 8 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to thebus 10. The mass storage device 14 and its associated computer-readablemedia provide non-volatile storage for the client computer 2. The termcomputer-readable media as used herein may include computer storagemedia. Computer storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computerstorage media may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, electricallyerasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tostore information and which can be accessed by the client computer 2.Any such computer storage media may be part of the client computer 2.

The term computer-readable media as used herein may also includecommunication media. Communication media may be embodied by computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other datain a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” may describe a signal that has one or morecharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF),infrared, and other wireless media.

According to various embodiments, the client computer 2 may operate in anetworked environment using logical connections to remote computersthrough the network 4 which may comprise, for example, a local networkor a wide area network (e.g., the Internet). The client computer 2 mayconnect to the network 4 through a network interface unit 16 connectedto the bus 10. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit16 may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remotecomputing systems. The client computer 2 may also include aninput/output controller 22 for receiving and processing input from anumber of input types, including a keyboard, mouse, pen, stylus, finger,and/or other means. Similarly, the input/output controller 22 mayprovide output to a display device 82, a printer, or other type ofoutput device. Additionally, a touch screen can serve as an input and anoutput mechanism. It should be appreciated that the report server 70 andthe back office server 80, shown in FIG. 1, may include many of theconventional components shown and discussed above with respect to theclient computer 2.

FIG. 3 is a computer screen display of a series of reports within asingle user interface 300, in accordance with an embodiment. The userinterface 300 may be generated by the client application 30 (oralternatively, the client application 30 in use with the EP/CRMapplication 40) for display on the display device 82 connected to theclient computer 2. The user interface 300 may display a report image 330consisting of a chart (e.g., a pie chart of “Top 5 Employee Costs”) in aprimary report area 320. The user interface 30 may further includereport action buttons 302-308 for initiating the communication ofvarious business processes with respect to the report 330. A descriptionof report action button functionality is described in a related U.S.utility patent application entitled “Integrating Report Actions for aSeries of Reports within a Single User Interface” having Ser. No.12/985,208, which was filed on Jan. 5, 2011. The user interface 300 mayfurther include a secondary report area 322 in which report thumbnailimages 324, 326 and 328 may be displayed. The report images 324, 326 and328 may represent reports which related to the report image 330 shown inthe primary report area 320. In accordance with an embodiment, thesecondary report area 322 may be “docked” below the primary report area320. However, it should be understood that the secondary report area 322may also be docked to other sides of the user interface 300. The userinterface 300 may also include a navigation slider 340 which may beutilized for navigating from the report images 324, 326 and 328 in thesecondary report area 322 to other report images (not shown) which mayalso be contained within the secondary report area 322. The userinterface 300 may also include a menu options control 350. In accordancewith an embodiment, the menu options control 350 may provide variousmenu options for viewing a series of reports (i.e., a report series) asimages in the user interface 300. In particular, the menu optionscontrol 350 may provide a menu option which may allow a user to change acurrently selected report series for display in the primary report area320 and the secondary report area 322 in the user interface 300. Theuser interface 300 may also include a window actions control 360. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the window actions control 360 may beutilized to select commands for manipulating the display of reportimages in a report series within the primary report area 320 and thesecondary report area 322 in the user interface 300. In particular, thewindow actions control 360 may enable a user to move report images fromthe secondary report area 322 to the primary report area 320 in responseto receiving a selected command.

FIG. 4 is a computer screen display of a series of overlaid reports in asingle user interface 400, in accordance with an embodiment. The userinterface 400 may be generated by the client application 30 (oralternatively, the client application 30 in use with the EP/CRMapplication 40) for display on the display device 82 connected to theclient computer 2. The user interface 400 may display a report image 430consisting of overlaid report images 402, 404 and 406. In particular,the client application 30 may be configured to combine reports takenfrom a secondary report area (not shown) to create the overlaid reportimage 430 in a primary report area of the user interface 400. It shouldbe appreciated that overlaid reports may allow a user to see differencesover time for a specified metric in a single report image.

FIG. 5 is a computer screen display of trend data generated from aseries of reports within a single user interface 500, in accordance withan embodiment. The user interface 500 may be generated by the clientapplication 30 (or alternatively, the client application 30 in use withthe EP/CRM application 40) for display on the display device 82connected to the client computer 2. The user interface 500 may display areport image 530 consisting of a graph (e.g., a line graph of “Number ofLate Shipments for the Past 15 Days”) in a primary report area 520. Theuser interface 500 may further include a secondary report area 522 inwhich report thumbnail images 532, 534, 536, 538, 540, 542 and 544 maybe displayed. The report images 532-544 daily late shipment reportswhich are summarized by the line graph in the report image 530 displayedin the primary report area 520. Thus, the line graph in the report image530 may be utilized to view a trend in late shipments over a specificperiod of time. The user interface 500 may also include a navigationslider 550 which may be utilized for navigating among the report images532-544 in the secondary report area 522 as well as other off-screenreport images (not shown) which may also be contained within thesecondary report area 522.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine 600 for displaying aseries of reports within a single user interface, in accordance with anembodiment. When reading the discussion of the routine presented herein,it should be appreciated that the logical operations of variousembodiments of the present invention are implemented (1) as a sequenceof computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computingsystem and/or (2) as interconnected machine logical circuits or circuitmodules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter ofchoice dependent on the performance requirements of the computing systemimplementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical operationsillustrated in FIG. 6 and making up the various embodiments describedherein are referred to variously as operations, structural devices, actsor modules. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that theseoperations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented insoftware, in firmware, in special purpose digital logical, and anycombination thereof without deviating from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as recited within the claims set forth herein.

The routine 600 begins at operation 605, where the client application 30executing on the client computer 2 may display the user interface 300including the primary report area 320, the report image 330, thesecondary report area 322, the report images 324-328, the navigationslider 340, the menu options control 350, the window actions control 360and the action buttons 302-308.

From operation 605, the routine 600 continues to operation 610, wherethe client application 30 may (in response to user input) change acurrently selected report series in the user interface 300. Inparticular, a user may select an option from the menu options control350 in the user interface 300 to change a currently selected reportseries (e.g., “Top 5 Employee Costs”) to another report series (e.g.,“Number of Late Shipments”), thereby generating the display of reportimages in the user interface 300 which are associated with the newlyselected report series.

From operation 610, the routine 600 continues to operation 615, wherethe client application 30 may (in response to user input) move reportimages from the primary report area 320 to the secondary report area 322in the user interface 300. In particular, a user may select an optionfrom the window actions control 360 in the user interface 300 to movethe report images from the secondary report area 322. In accordance withan embodiment, the window actions control 360 may allow a user to selecta “Dashboard Mode” which, when selected, causes the client application30 to automatically add all of the report images in the secondary reportarea 322 to the primary report area 320. In the aforementionedembodiment, the report images may be added down and then across theprimary report area 320 in the order in which they appeared in thesecondary report area 322. The client application 30 may further scaleall of report images in the primary report area 320 so that the size ofthe report images are displayed in proportionately relative to the sizeof the primary report area 320. In this embodiment, client application30 may further hide the secondary report area 322 (now empty) in theuser interface 300 since there are no longer any displayed reportimages.

From operation 615, the routine 600 continues to operation 620, wherethe client application 30 may (in response to user input) swap a reportimage (i.e., the report image 330) displayed in the primary report area320 with a selected report image in the secondary report area 322. Inaccordance with an embodiment, a user of the client application 30 mayswap report images by clicking on a report image in the secondary reportarea 322 to select it. In response to the aforementioned user input, theclient application 30 then swaps the report image 330 in the primaryreport area 320 with the selected report image in the secondary reportarea 322.

From operation 620, the routine 600 continues to operation 625, wherethe client application 30 may (in response to user input) overlay aseries of report images in the user interface 400. For example, asdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 4, a user of the client application30 may combine reports taken from a secondary report area to create theoverlaid report image 430 in a primary report area of the user interface400. It should be appreciated that overlaid reports may allow a user tosee differences over time for a specified metric in a single reportimage. From operation 625 the routine 600 ends.

It should be understood that, in accordance with various embodiments,the client application 30 may be utilized to conduct other operationswith respect to displayed report images in a user interface, such as theuser interface 300. For example, the client application 30 may beconfigured to allow a user to delete non-relevant report images from thesecondary report area 322 and retain report images where trends may beidentified by a user. The user interface 300 generated by the clientapplication 30 may further be utilized by a user to create a slidepresentation playing a series of historical report images (inchronological order) displayed in the primary report area 320 and thesecondary report area 322.

Although the invention has been described in connection with variousillustrative embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that many modifications can be made thereto within the scopeof the claims that follow. Accordingly, it is not intended that thescope of the invention in any way be limited by the above description,but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims thatfollow.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of configuring data for a user interface,the method comprising: providing a primary report area of the userinterface configured to display a first report image associated with afirst report of a plurality of reports; providing a secondary reportarea of the user interface configured to display additional reportimages of the plurality of reports, the secondary report area configuredto be concurrently displayed with the primary report area; receiving afirst selection of a second report image associated with a second reportof the plurality of reports; proportionally scaling the second reportimage; combining the scaled second report image with the first reportimage to create a first overlaid report image in the primary reportarea; receiving a second selection of a third report image associatedwith a third report of the plurality of report images; proportionallyscaling the third report image; and replacing the scaled second reportimage with the scaled third report image to create a second overlaidreport image in the primary report area.
 22. The method of claim 21,further comprising: providing a plurality of menu options in the userinterface, the plurality of menu options comprising commands for viewingeach of the plurality of reports as a report image in the userinterface.
 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: in responseto receiving a selection of a menu option, changing a selected reportimage for display in the user interface.
 24. The method of claim 21,further comprising: displaying a user control for manipulating thedisplay of a plurality of report images associated with the plurality ofreports within the primary report area and the secondary report area ofthe user interface.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein displaying thesecondary report area comprises displaying the additional report imagesin a chronological order.
 26. The method of claim 21, further comprisinginstructing the computer to: analyzing at least one of the first reportand the second report to identify at least one action indicated by atleast one of the first report and the second report; creating at leastone custom action control for initiating the at least one action; anddisplaying the at least one custom action control and the first overlaidreport image in the primary report area of the user interface.
 27. Themethod of claim 26, further comprising: receiving a selection of the atleast one custom action control; and initiating the at least one actionfrom the user interface.
 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the atleast one action comprises at least one of: sending a communication;placing an order; creating a purchase order; making a phone call;generating an offer; and initiating an employee compensation change. 29.A computer system for displaying a series of reports within a userinterface, comprising: a memory for storing computer-executableinstructions; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, theprocessor being responsive to the computer-executable instructions andoperative to: provide a primary report area of the user interfaceconfigured to display a first report image associated with a firstreport of a plurality of reports; provide a secondary report area of theuser interface configured to display additional report images of theplurality of reports, the secondary report area configured to beconcurrently displayed with the primary report area; receive a firstselection of a second report image associated with a second report ofthe plurality of reports; proportionally scale the second report image;combine the scaled second report image with the first report image tocreate an overlaid report image in the primary report area; analyze atleast one of the first report and the second report to identify at leastone action indicated by at least one of the first report and the secondreport; create at least one custom action control for initiating the atleast one action; and display the at least one custom action control andthe overlaid report image in the primary report area of the userinterface.
 30. The computer system of claim 29, the processor furtherbeing responsive to the computer-executable instructions and operativeto: receive a selection of the at least one custom action control; andinitiate the at least one action from the user interface.
 31. Thecomputer system of claim 30, wherein the at least one action comprisesat least one of: send a communication; place an order; create a purchaseorder; make a phone call; generate an offer; and initiate an employeecompensation change.
 32. The computer system of claim 29, the processorfurther being responsive to the computer-executable instructions andoperative to: provide a plurality of menu options in the user interface,the plurality of menu options comprising commands for viewing each ofthe plurality of reports as a report image in the user interface. 33.The computer system of claim 32, the processor further being responsiveto the computer-executable instructions and operative to: in response toreceiving a selection of a menu option, change a selected report imagefor display in the user interface.
 34. The computer system of claim 32,the processor further being responsive to the computer-executableinstructions and operative to: display a user control for manipulatingthe display of a plurality of report images associated with theplurality of reports within the primary report area and the secondaryreport area of the user interface.
 35. The computer system of claim 29,wherein displaying the secondary report area comprises displaying theadditional report images in a chronological order.
 36. Acomputer-readable storage medium storing computer-executableinstructions that when executed by a processor cause a computer toperform a method for displaying a series of reports within a userinterface, the method comprising: providing a primary report area of theuser interface configured to display a first report image associatedwith a first report of a plurality of reports; providing a secondaryreport area of the user interface configured to display additionalreport images of the plurality of reports, the secondary report areaconfigured to be concurrently displayed with the primary report area;receiving a first selection of a second report image associated with asecond report of the plurality of reports; proportionally scaling thesecond report image; combining the scaled second report image with thefirst report image to create a first overlaid report image in theprimary report area; receiving a second selection of a third reportimage associated with a third report of the plurality of report images;proportionally scaling the third report image; and replacing the scaledsecond report image with the scaled third report image to create asecond overlaid report image in the primary report area.
 37. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 36, further comprising:analyzing at least one of the first report and the second report toidentify at least one action indicated by at least one of the firstreport and the second report; creating at least one custom actioncontrol for initiating the at least one action; and displaying the atleast one custom action control and the first overlaid report image inthe primary report area of the user interface.
 38. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 37, further comprising: receiving a selection ofthe at least one custom action control; and initiating the at least oneaction from the user interface.
 39. The computer-readable storage mediumof claim 37, wherein the at least one action comprises at least one of:sending a communication; placing an order; creating a purchase order;making a phone call; generating an offer; and initiating an employeecompensation change.
 40. The computer-readable storage medium of claim36, wherein displaying the secondary report area comprises displayingthe additional report images in a chronological order.